Are you one of the 78 percent of adults
who wish they had more time to stop and smell the roses? If so, this article
is for you. In today's fast-paced business environment, managing time is critical.
The average American works 46 hours a week on the job and takes six hours of
work home with them. Therefore, managing and making the most efficient use of
your time really matters!

Through this article, we hope that you
will realize you are not alone with too much to do, and not enough time to do
it in. Keep in mind, this time period in history, unlike preceding years is
"information rich." More information has been produced in the prior
30 years than since 1497! The British newspaper, The Sunday Times, contains
more information than a person in the 17th century would come across in a lifetime.
The amount of information that is available to us through computers and telecommunications
doubles every year. Unlike ever before, we must be able to rapidly keep in touch
with our field and be able to hone in on key information.

Before jumping into the ideas in this
article, assess your efficiency by completing the Efficiency Quiz.

I. Interactive Efficiency Quiz

Directions: Answer Yes or No for each
question by clicking on the correct response with your mouse. The article will
count your responses for you.

1.

Do you lose time to telephone
interruptions?

YES

NO

2.

Would you attain a better final
product in less time if you planned more effectively?

YES

NO

3.

Do visitors drop in unexpectedly?

YES

NO

4.

Are you frustrated with your lack of
self-discipline?

YES

NO

5.

Is paperwork eating away at your time?

YES

NO

6.

Are meetings that you attend effective
and efficiently run?

YES

NO

7.

Do you procrastinate?

YES

NO

8.

Are you prone to socializing when you
should be working?

YES

NO

9.

Does poor communication hinder your
effectiveness with superiors or subordinates?

YES

NO

10.

Are you spending more time traveling
than working on projects?

YES

NO

11.

Are you scrambling for more
information to complete projects?

YES

NO

12.

Are you disorganized personally?

YES

NO

13.

Are you attempting to do too much in
the available time?

YES

NO

14.

Are you continually putting out fires?
Managing by crisis?

YES

NO

15.

When you delegate, do
you need to re-explain or take over the project?

YES

NO

16.

Do you have difficulty saying,
"no?"

YES

NO

17.

Are you confused by ill-defined limits
of your responsibility or authority?

Numerous articles have been written on time management. These articles present
various strategies for increasing your effectiveness and ultimately your time.
They all agree, however, on having a clear mental picture of your lifetime goals
and immediate goals (one year or less) and work each day toward reaching those
long- and short-term goals. This idea is evident in various planners. Without
knowing what your goals are you may be working without a sense of direction
and merely putting out fires or handling crises. Remember, you won't know if
you get there, if you don't know where you are going or where you want to be.

Note: The following strategies and tips come from personal experience and the
various resources found at the end of this article.

Identify activities that are robbing you of valuable time. If you're unsure, keep a log
of your time culprits (Parks). Once you determine your time culprits, focus your energies
on reducing their impact.

Work from a to-do list.

Keep track of projects that must be done, check them off when completed. By checking
them off you will be more motivated to proceed to your next activity or project.

Set deadlines for yourself, i.e., catch up on memos by 10:00 a.m.

Manage by goals and objectives and not crisis management. If you feel that every day all
you are doing is putting out fires, it's time to reevaluate why these fires are occurring
and focus on eliminating the causes.

Manage your time by handling interruptions.

If you have an open-door policy, your staff and colleagues know you're available.
Discuss your limited availability or establish times you are available, subsequently, your
productivity will increase.

Limit phone calls by having your secretary screen and trouble shoot.

Designate a specific time of the day in which you return calls.

Designate a time of the day in which you are available for consultations.

Respond to emails at pre-determined times, once or twice a day, instead of every time
you receive a message.

Be alert to visitors who just drop in. Unexpected visitors can rob you of valuable
minutes. Let your visitors know that you are quite busy at present but your secretary
would be glad to meet with them and if appropriate, schedule an appointment.

Remove extra chairs from your office.

Meet uninvited visitors outside your office and if they come in, remain standing so your
visitor will be less inclined to sit and talk.

Learn to say, "Can we schedule some time to discuss this later?"

To eliminate "phone tag," make phone calls just before lunch or near the end
of the day when the other party is most likely to be there.

Reposition your desk so that you don't look directly outside your office door as it may
encourage conversations with passersby.

Don't procrastinate.

Pretend the deadline is tomorrow.

Outline the whole concept or project in writing.

Delegate parts of the project to staff.

When faced with monumental tasks or projects, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Break down that major
task into small, doable components.

Develop a timetable to complete the project.

Work as a committee, delegate parts of the project.

Focus on completing one step at a time.

Don't Procrastinate, refer to Strategy 4

Every piece of paper that crosses your desk should be taken care of by tossing it,
referring it, acting on it, or filing it.

Never let paper work accumulate on your desk

Eliminate anything that is not essential.

Do NOT open junk mail

Empower your secretary or staff to perform some of these activities.

Stop being a designated expert.

Empower your staff to handle questions and complaints.

Identify key individuals who can manage specific areas of the business.

Just say "no." Although this may be a good strategy for some
members of the team, be cautious of telling your boss you can't do something.
When faced with things you can't say no to, focus on what you can do to make
it a win-win situation.

Put together a team that you will supervise to complete this new project.

Change the time frames for project completion for this new project or prior ones.

Be realistic about what you can and can't do.

Make every moment count!

Campbell stresses the need to take advantage of time spent on the road by using downtime
to return voice mail and email.

Balancing a growing business and a growing family requires squeezing maximum
productivity out of the available time. Some tricks include traveling at night, sleeping
less, and deploying labor-saving devices.

Clear your desk so you can focus on your task at hand.

Concentration is a key to each component; it is critical to stay focused
on the task at hand. That alone can increase your available time by making
you more efficient.

Focus on critical information when looking through publications..

Close your door.

Take notes on tasks at hand.

Use technology to enhance your skills.

Be flexible.

Anticipate interruptions such as phone calls, visitors or a problem arising.

Meetings can also be major time-zappers; including the time to get to the
meeting, waiting for late arrivals, inefficiently run meetings that take on
personal agendas.

Use meeting announcements with agendas to remind individuals and keep focused.

Designate specific time frames for discussion.

When meetings stray from the topic, bring people back on target by asking specific
questions related to the agenda item.

Consider the alternatives to meetings that are discussed below.

Ensure that all new employees are properly oriented and hold them accountable
for their jobs. You do not have the time or energy to continually explain
things or assist them on their jobs when you need to focus on doing your own.

Develop, or better yet, delegate to a staff member the responsibility of developing an
orientation Program.

Designate key individuals to orient new employees.

Make sure all job descriptions and performance standards are up to date and reflective
of the job.

Use a probationary period to make sure you have the right person for the position. If
they continue to have difficulty performing tasks assigned, consider dismissing them.

Follow your internal clock to enhance your effectiveness. Are you doing
your most important tasks during your most productive hours or are you scheduling
your most important tasks when your brain is shutting down?

Rearrange your schedule. If you work best in the early morning, do your most important
tasks then.

Don't be afraid to hire someone to help with chores and tasks at home so
you can enjoy your friends, family and self. Getting help does not mean you
can't do the work; it means you are smart enough to realize that your time
is valued and should be spent with those people you value and doing things
you value.

Focus on your wellness!

Eat right.

Exercise.

Get an appropriate amount of rest.

Take time to relax.

Stop bad habits, like smoking, and decrease your caffeine intake.

Keep in touch with your spiritual side.

Never forget to do the things that bring you enjoyment; if you are frustrated, exhausted
or sick your efficiency will decrease, and you will have even less time.

Imagine a day without pagers, cell phones, email, facsimiles and other technologies.
Using these items may help us to get things done more efficiently, but they
may also enable us to take on even more work. Using new technologies increases
our ability to multi-task, or accomplish many activities at one time.

Multi-tasking is not just a term used to describe a computer's capability to
do multiple functions simultaneously. It can be used to describe today's worker.
While driving to a meeting, it's not uncommon for a busy executive or business
owner to make some phone calls, listen to voice mail, and open up some mail.
Although this may be an efficient use of time, it can be dangerous when done
behind the wheel of a car! Multi-tasking can overwhelm you by creating problems
with focusing on the task at hand yet provide you with those precious extra
minutes in the day. When doing multi-tasking, remember if the task requires
you to focus on it, do not attempt to do another task simultaneously.

Here are some strategies for multi-tasking:

The Internet is a valuable resource that can do more than deliver email messages.

By using the attachment function on your email program. You can move information over
the data network in a more expedient and less costly format than regular fax or voice
mail. In fact, the number of fax pages rerouted from the voice network is growing from 44
million in 1997 to an expected 5.6 billion in 2000.

Consider the alternative to a direct face-to-face meeting with staff, especially when
the meeting entails travel.

Electronic mail -- Using a listserv can allow you to attain feedback and comments on key
information.

Voice mail

"Just the fax ..." For companies that don't have computers linked to the
Internet or a network, a fax can be used similarly. You or an appropriate individual
outlines key issues and faxes it to first person on a routing list, who adds comments and
suggestions then faxes the original and their comments to the next person in a round-robin
fashion.

Online meetings can be done with software packages such as First Class TM. These
programs are especially conducive to brainstorming.

Teleconferencing

Videoconferencing

When using online services, filter through the information and focus on key information
(Beck).

Whenever possible use email.

Correspond to colleagues at your convenience; don't be interrupted by making phone calls
or answering phone calls.

A word of caution: Although email fits almost everyone's schedule, messages may be
misconstrued and not interpreted as intended.

If you receive numerous pages each day and can only return calls at key times, notify
your family and immediate staff to put a tail on their return number, such as 911, for
especially important messages.

If you have limited keyboarding skills, consider using a voice-activated word processing
software package.

Fifty-two percent of all working people
in this country use a calendar or planner. Planners have become an industry
in United States. The three most popular planners are Franklin Quest, Day Runner
and Day-Timer. Numerous types of calendars can be found in stationery stores;
other common planners include Rolodex organizer and Time Resource planner. As
responsibilities grow, the type of planner you need may change. Organizers and
planners save individuals an average of 51 minutes a day.

The primary secret to successful time
management with a datebook or planner is to use it. It should be carried around
with you daily to schedule important meetings, keep track of projects, plan
and prepare.

Wheeler suggests the following tips
for using organizers:

The organizer should have a zipper
or snap.

Set aside a regular time for planning.

Write everything down.

Don't worry about all the dividers
or divisions in your planner. If there are sections that you don't write in,
discard them.

Most individuals could do without desktop
organizers. But others feel that the flexibility of actual calendar type organizer
is always available, doesn't require access to the same computer, and are adaptable
to many settings and situations. Computer programs are flexible in allowing
the scheduling of multiple appointments, some up to 75 per day. Although not
pragmatic for an individual, they would work well for scheduling medical appointments
in a clinic.

Personal information managers can maintain
a daily schedule and keep track of conversations and meetings. People may use
these software programs to better manage time and resources but may resort to
their Franklin and Day Timers.

Common software time management programs
vary greatly in price and what they include. There is an arsenal of new technology
to enhance your time management techniques for scheduling, planning and tracking
projects. Three of the more common ones include:

Palm organizers working in sync with
your personal computer to store appointments, email and contacts

For many, the difference between a computerized
system and a pad and pencil is merely a matter of comfort, what you get used
to, what is available, and prior successes. It is recommended to go to a large
office store and try some of these various software and technologies to see
what best fits your needs.

So, where do you go from here? It's
easy to read this, answer the questions and think you'll start following the
suggestions tomorrow. Instead, consider your goals and objectives; you wouldn't
have read this if you didn't think you needed to improve.

Challenge yourself by downloading, printing
out and completing the following Reflections on My Time Worksheet. Seal it in
an envelope and address it to yourself. Give it to your secretary or someone
else reliable and ask them to mail it or give it back to you in three months.
In three months, reexamine how you are doing in managing your time and meeting
your goals.

Reflections on My Time Worksheet

Why did you read this Office Business
Tool on managing your time or letting it control you?

What are your long-term goals?

What are your immediate goals for
the next year?

In which areas are you least effective
in managing your time?
Ex: Interrupted by visitors to my office

What specific time management strategies
will you put into effect immediately?
Ex: Remove a chair from my office and notify staff of my available office
hours for consultation

Complete, seal in a self-addressed envelope,
and give it to someone who will mail it to you or give it to you in three months.
When you get it back, reflect on where you are and what you need to do to get
where you want to be in managing your time.

So, where do you go from here? It's
easy to read this, answer the questions and think you'll start following the
suggestions tomorrow. Instead, consider your goals and objectives; you wouldn't
have read this if you didn't think you needed to improve.

Challenge yourself by downloading, printing
out and completing the following Reflections on My Time Worksheet. Seal it in
an envelope and address it to yourself. Give it to your secretary or someone
else reliable and ask them to mail it or give it back to you in three months.
In three months, reexamine how you are doing in managing your time and meeting
your goals.